wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “elastic”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “elastic”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 2 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Vertical Image Slider – Responsive Thumbnail Slider with Lightbox shows at wp.org #7 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.9★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder places #6 on merit, 5.0★ from 259 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #1 2

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

MailOptin – Popup, Optin Forms & Email Newsletters for Mailchimp, HubSpot, AWeber Etc. 10K+ · 4.8★ (438) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #6 2 too low 5

Elastic Email Sender 10K+ · 4.8★ (10) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #2 3 too high 6

Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259) wp.org #15 ↑5 9 too low 7

Add to Calendar Button 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #5 2 too high 8

WPMasterToolKit (WPMTK) – All in one plugin 5K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #9 ↓2 1 too low 9

Bricksable for Bricks Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (61) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too low 10

AnimateGL – WebGL & CSS Scroll Animations and Hover Effects for Gutenberg and Elementor 2K+ · 5.0★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #10 11

Responsive Thumbnail Slider 1K+ · 4.4★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too high 12

SureMail – SMTP and Email Logs Plugin with Amazon SES, Postmark, and Other Providers 200K+ · 4.7★ (25) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too high 14

Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps 9K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #19 5 too low 15

Infinity23 (Formerly Tag Manager) – One Plugin That Replaces All The Rest 20K+ · 4.7★ (53) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too low 16

Vertical Image Slider – Responsive Thumbnail Slider with Lightbox 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #7 ↑1 9 too high 17

Video Gallery – YouTube, Vimeo & Video Slider with Lightbox 1K+ · 4.4★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too high 18

Ductile Responsive Video 400+ · 4.9★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓2 1 too high 19

Magical Addons For Elementor ( Theme Builder, Header Footer Builder, Free Elementor Widgets, Elementor Templates Library ) 4K+ · 4.7★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓5 2 too low 20

MailArchiver 100+ · 5.0★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓2 21

SendForce Mail SMTP Relay – SMTP and Email API 10+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓3 3 too low 22

Advanced Scrollbar – Give Your Site a Sleek Branded Scrolling Feel 600+ · 3.0★ (7) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #23 1 too low 23

WBD Progress Bar For Gutenberg 200+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓2 7 too high 24

Elastic Email Inbox Live Chat — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #22 2 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.